Literary Recap Dec. 13-19, 2012

6 years

Behind on your Can-lit? CBC Books is listing off 12 days of Canadian favourites in categories including food, business and music. Literary friends and foes: a look back at the feud between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson, and the correspondence of Walt Whitman and Bram Stoker. Maybe that copy of ... Read More

Literary Recap Dec. 6 - 12, 2012

6 years, 1 month

Unable to resolve the store’s financial woes, the owner of Collected Works – Ottawa’s largest independent bookstore – is selling the business for one dollar. The Financial Post looks at recent struggles and successes in the changing publishing industry. Are we living in a golden age? Despite hardships like the ... Read More

Literary Recap Nov. 29 - Dec. 5

6 years, 1 month

Good news for those interested in long-form storytelling: The University of King’s College has introduced Canada’s first Masters program exclusively dedicated to creative non-fiction. Literature is a powerful beast! New research shows that reading fiction can create changes (albeit, temporary changes) in a person’s behavior, including the ... Read More

The Personal Is Public

6 years, 1 month

So you’ve published your first chapbook and you’re worried about fame. The autographs, the paparazzi – how will you handle it? Are you ready to start selling your mucous on eBay? Laugh if you will, but fame is a true concern for many writers. Between writing about celebrities, writing ... Read More

fS Holiday Sale

6 years, 1 month

Dear friend of filling Station, It’s that time of year again—time for filling Station’s annual Holiday Sale! All through the month of December, we’ll be selling 3-Issue Subscriptions for just $15 and 6-Issue Subscriptions for just $25 (that’s a $5 savings on 3-Issues, and an ... Read More

Literary Recap Nov. 22-28, 2012

6 years, 1 month

Shirking the solitary aspect of magazine enjoyment, one publication is stepping off the rack. Performed for an audience, the first ‘issue’ of Pop-Up Magazine featured pregnancy suits, squirrel enthusiasts and live enactments of cocktail ads. The internet delivered on innovations this week, with writing tools ranging from a cut-up machine ... Read More

Literary Recap Nov. 15 - 21,2012

6 years, 1 month

In a big week for book awards, the winners of the Governor General’s Awards were announced, as well as winners of the American National Book Awards. The Writers’ Trust Awards were also announced this month; CBC talks to Nino Ricci about his Engel/Findley Award win. Enough about what ... Read More

Mystical Reading

6 years, 1 month

What is a book? A talisman? A diversion? A really bulky coaster? Your answer will vary depending on your personality, but most will agree, a book is a powerful thing. Books have the potential to change your life – for an hour, as you laugh at The Bedwetter on a plane ... Read More

Literary Recap November 8-14, 2012

6 years, 2 months

The Monkey’s Paw has a cunning solution to your midday cravings. Presenting the Biblio-mat Book Vending Machine: for those days when a Wunderbar just won’t cut it. Remember when ‘doing the reading’ meant skimming the first chapter and memorizing the Wikipedia page? Sorry students, but thanks to e-textbooks ... Read More

Literary Recap November 2-7, 2012

6 years, 2 months

Calgary author and celebrated humourist Will Ferguson took home the Giller Prize last week for his Internet thriller 419. For those who weren’t so lucky, Incidental Comics has a list of literary consolation prizes. How do you read? N+1 magazine has an article on reading through the lens ... Read More

National Novel Writing Month

6 years, 2 months

To some, the only thing spookier than Halloween is the notion of writing a novel in a month. But for the thousands of people who participate in National Novel Writing Month each year, November means just that: a whole book (50 000 words) written from start to finish in thirty ... Read More

Literary Recap Oct. 24 - 31, 2012

6 years, 2 months

The Rosalind Prize, a new award celebrating fiction written by Canadian women, is set to launch as early as 2014. First proposed by Janice Zawerbny, the prize will address gender disparities in the Canadian awards scene. Can’t end your love affair with antidisestablishmentarianism? Thsrs, an online generator of shorter ... Read More

Literary Recap Oct. 18-24, 2012

6 years, 2 months

With spooky celebrations starting this weekend, it’s time to get serious about your Hallowe'en costume. If you don’t want to be Sexy Hester Prynne (again), check out this list of literary getups. On the subject of spooky, Galleycat asks what happens to your Tumblr account when you ... Read More

New Nonfiction Editor: Braydon Beaulieu

6 years, 2 months

Braydon Beaulieu hails from Essex, Ontario. He currently pursues a doctorate in Creative Writing at the University of Calgary. His creative work appears most recently in Windsor Review, Little Fiction, and Five [Quarterly]. He measures warm weather in Fahrenheit and cold weather in Celsius, because he likes to be dramatic ... Read More

fS Introduces Erin Torrance as Art Editor

6 years, 2 months

Erin Torrance is an avid reader, writer, and artist who is currently a student attending the Journalism program at SAIT Polytechnic. She is an innovative Calgarian who lives in a quaint little apartment with a rebellious cat as her roommate. Throughout her secondary schooling Erin participated in the Arts Centered ... Read More

Buy 2 Canadian Mag Subs & Get 1 Free

6 years, 2 months

Make sure to take advantage of Magazines Canada's “Buy 2 Get 1 FREE” magazine subscription campaign. That way you can get a subscription to fS and 2 other Canadian lit-mags for super-cheap! Read More

Anatomy of A Collective Meeting

6 years, 2 months

Literary magazines can seem mysterious to writers – as the makers or breakers of a story’s fate, these tanks of appraisal can be the difference between licking more stamps and toasting publication. But what goes on between submission and response? What gears turn prospective stories into published ones? Maybe you ... Read More

Literary Recap Oct. 11-17, 2012

6 years, 3 months

Mo Yan became the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Prize in Literature this week, receiving accolades for his brand of ‘hallucinatoric realism.’ In Canadian award news, the Acorn-Plantos Award has released its shortlist, celebrating accessible poetry by Canadian writers. “If both pencils break, you can do a rough ... Read More

Literary Recap October 4 - 10, 2012

6 years, 3 months

The sky’s the limit! For the ultimate in writing back-ups, check out this article on interstellar hard drives. On a less technological front, Futility Closet looks back at The Star Gauge, a choose-your-own poem that can be read 2848 ways. “Hey Jude,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – these ... Read More

Contributor Lineup for Issue 54

6 years, 3 months

Issue 54 is now with our printers, but we thought we'd give you a taste of what's to come: derek beaulieu Lisa Brawn Mary Cafferty Michael Chaulk Jeffrey Douglas Julie Glaser Toshiya Kamei Beth Langford Stuart Ian McKay Rod Moody-Corbett Nathaniel G. Moore Natalie Morrill Elodie Olson-Coons Scott ... Read More

Literary Recap Sept. 27 - Oct. 3, 2012

6 years, 3 months

Although aimed at teenage girls, Rookie Magazine’s Ten Rules for Writers offers insightful tips for all ages. Etgar Keret shares wise words on style, motivation and fictional house fires. Are hyperlinked books on the horizon? At CBC Books, Hugh McGuire discusses the future of reading as literature interacts with ... Read More

Cinematic Exercises 4 Film-inspired Writers

6 years, 3 months

With CIFF in full swing, I got to thinking about books and movies. Although film and literature occasionally seem at odds (Bonfire of the Vanities, anyone?), cringe-inducing adaptations are just one piece of the puzzle. Books and movies are two sides of the same coin: each uses plot and characters ... Read More

Literary Recap Sept. 20 - 26, 2012

6 years, 3 months

Are you a basher or a swooper? Brooklyn Magazine talks work styles, snack breaks and Internet black holes with nine New York writers. “Every once in a while in the history of mankind, a book has appeared which has substantially altered the course of history.” In honor of Silent Spring ... Read More

Call: Experimental Writing by Women

6 years, 3 months

Recently, a study by CWILA (Canadian Women in the Literary Arts) found that of all book reviews published in select Canadian magazines during 2011, fewer than 30% featured female-authored books. Obviously, this is a disturbing trend of underrepresentation on a systemic level. In response, we here at filling Station are ... Read More

fS Archive Unveiled!

6 years, 3 months

Our quaint magazine, and former Managing Editor Laurie Fuhr in particular, dreamed a great dream: a searchable archive of every issue filling Station has ever created, with information on every contributor who has ever graced our pages. September 26, 2012: dream, meet reality. Thanks to a generous project grant from ... Read More

Literary Recap Sept. 13 - 19, 2012

6 years, 4 months

Wondering why you keep striking out with that sad garage sale story? Joe Hiland, fiction editor of the Indiana Review, discusses three types of story he’s unlikely to publish. From hobbit-holes to highrises, dwellings play an important role in literature. The New Yorker discusses real estate’s role in ... Read More

Day Jobs

6 years, 4 months

Writing is many things, but a cash cow isn’t one of them. Unless you’re among a handful of established novelists, a few in-demand journalists, or Harlequin’s team of Nocturne Cravings ghostwriters, you’re probably not fanning yourself with stacks of polymer bills. If you’re just getting ... Read More

Literary Recap September 6-12, 2012

6 years, 4 months

What’s the difference between a librarian and an occultist? An archivist unveils a 1937 collection of rules for readers and librarians, while Brain Pickings takes us back in time with vintage reading ads. “Reaction. Summary. Aesthetic and historical appraisal.” Continuing the conversation on literary criticism, The Millions has a ... Read More

Literary Recap Aug. 30 - Sept. 5, 2012

6 years, 4 months

This was a big week in prize announcements, with the Edna Stabeler Award and Toronto Book Awards announcing their shortlists, as well as longlist announcements from the ReLit Awards and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Among the Giller nominees is Will Ferguson, a Calgary humourist gaining praise for his latest novel ... Read More

The New Street Spoken Word Safari

6 years, 4 months

Back on August 15th I found myself in Inglewood for a Spoken Word Safari. I had no idea who I’d meet there: the Facebook event was very mysterious and had blocked guests from seeing who else was going. One thing was for sure - I knew friends Caitlynn Cummings, Aaron ... Read More

Literary Recap Aug. 22-29, 2012

6 years, 4 months

Summer is almost over, but reading is an all-season sport. Get started on your fall picks with Quill & Quire’s preview of autumn’s most anticipated books. In the mood for something novel? Match your swimsuit to your book with Matchbook’s bikini gallery, or check out As I Lay ... Read More

The Future of Libraries

6 years, 4 months

When I was a child, my mom would take me to Amazon.com each Saturday and sit me amongst musty search bars to select a dog-eared e-book from the shelves. Wait. In an age of growing e-book popularity, my childhood memories of public libraries are becoming increasingly antiquated. These days ... Read More

Literary Recap Aug. 16-21, 2012

6 years, 4 months

Literary Death Match, a competition showcasing the performative side of modern writing, is set to film a TV pilot in October. The organizers are fundraising on Kickstarter, with the goal of raising $10 000. In an effort to strengthen “the vertebral column of society,” Argentina is now offering pensions to ... Read More

D. W. Miller is fS' New Circulation Manager

6 years, 5 months

filling Station would like to welcome D. W. Miller as our new Circulation Manager. He now holds our entire distribution in his hands. If you have any circulation queries or comments please email him at circulation@fillingstation.ca. D.W. Miller is a writer sometimes, maybe, but mostly just a ... Read More

Literary Recap Aug. 8-15, 2012

6 years, 5 months

Are you a fiend for first editions? The University of Virginia’s annual Rare Book School brings together scholars, conservators, librarians and dealers to study the history, culture and significance of rare books. With over 63 million blogs available, Tumblr can be tricky to navigate. If you’re looking for ... Read More

Writing Lessons From Wedding Showers

6 years, 5 months

What does finger food have to do with fiction? Not much, but I threw a bridal shower this weekend and felt inspired to repurpose some of the games. If you’re feeling inspired (or bombarded) by the season of vows and veils, try out the exercises below: Two Truths and ... Read More

Literary Recap August 2 - 7, 2012

6 years, 5 months

In prize news, Margaret Atwood will offer a new online poetry prize through the social media site Wattpad. CBC Books, in keeping with the Olympic spirit, has a literary triathlon for writers of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. Is there an epidemic of niceness in literary criticism? Jacob Silverman investigates ... Read More

Date Night

6 years, 5 months

When was the last time you went on a date with a fairytale ending? Well-scripted meet-ups are hard to find, but this weekend you can write your own ending at fS’s Hot Dates with Blank Pages event. Held on the first Saturday of every month, these literary trysts are ... Read More

Literary Recap July 26 - Aug. 1, 2012

6 years, 5 months

Irish author Maeve Binchy has passed away at the age of 72. With book sales exceeding 40 million copies, Binchy was best known for her heartfelt depictions of mid-century Irish life. Did you know that literature was an Olympic event until 1948? NPR is putting the sweat back into sonnets ... Read More

An Unfair Review

6 years, 5 months

A recent Canadian study proposed some interesting questions about gender biases in book reviews. Looking at the literary reviews in nine well-known Canadian publications in 2011, Canadian Women in the Literary Arts found that in some publications, fewer than 30% of book reviews featured female-authored books. Additionally, two thirds of ... Read More

Literary Recap July 19-25, 2012

6 years, 5 months

A long-time favourite of Japanese readers, print-to-e-book scanning is gaining popularity in North America. For $1 per 100 pages, 1dollarscan.com will scan your hardcopy books into searchable PDFs. http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/07/japanese-style-print-to-e-book-scanning-catching-on-in-the-us/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PublishingPerspectives+%28Publishing+Perspectives%29&utm_content=Google+Reader Is ... Read More

Weekly Literary Recap July 12-18, 2012

6 years, 6 months

Looking for a fresh read? I Dream Books, a new review aggregation site, hopes to become the Rotten Tomatoes of the book world. http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/17/new-website-dreams-of-becoming-rotten-tomatoes-for-books/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-website-dreams-of-becoming-rotten-tomatoes-for-books Poetry-lovers can take their devotion to the next level with ... Read More

Weekly Literary Recap July 5-11, 2012

6 years, 6 months

A Toronto writer is offering the public a chance to buy into his upcoming novel. For $15, Daniel Perlmutter will include a sentence of your choice in his soon-to-be-written book. For $30, you can invent a character. For $1000 – the largest offer – you can pick how he ends the story ... Read More

Refreshing Events For Weary Readers

6 years, 6 months

Are you Stampeded out? If you’ve polished off your last pulled pork poutine, you might be seeking alternative plans this weekend. Calgary’s literary community has got you covered, with events as lively as any rodeo. • Skipping Stampede doesn’t have to mean staying inside. Head down to Stephen ... Read More

fS Seeks a Circulation Manager

6 years, 6 months

filling Station magazine is seeking a volunteer Circulation Manager to direct and coordinate all distribution efforts. The Circulation Manager oversees the entire circulation process, ensures magazines are distributed in a timely fashion, and continuously strives to increase the magazine’s subscription base by developing and implementing various promotional activities. The ... Read More

The Perils of Warm Weather

6 years, 6 months

July is here and with it, the kind of weather that makes diligence difficult. For those who create their own deadlines – including many writers – summer can be a challenge. With so many slurpees to drink, who has time for that chapbook? Although submission deadlines find a foe in backyard BBQ ... Read More

Literary Recap June 28 - July 4, 2012

6 years, 6 months

For writers who favour certain words, the new Smartwrite program can help you spot and eliminate repeated phrases in your work. Smartwrite also looks for clichés and overused dialogue tags. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/spot-cliches-spot-overused-words-with-free-writing-program_b53352 Looking for fresh Canadian writing? CBC Books has a list of 10 Canadian ... Read More

Classic Novelty

6 years, 6 months

In recent months and years, the book community has seen a rash of classic books reimagined in novel ways. From Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, there seems be an increasing focus on romance literature, parody, and creatures that eat brains. With this in ... Read More

Literary Recap June 20-27, 2012

6 years, 6 months

With Pixar’s latest film now in theatres, some writers may feel inspired to try something a bit more animated. The Pixar Touch blog offers up storytelling basics from the studio’s top creators. http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2011/5/15/pixar-story-rules-one-version.html Literary rehabilitation? Brazil is offering prisoners ... Read More

fS Calls for Northern BC Writing

6 years, 6 months

Call for Submissions: Special Issue of filling Station magazine on Northern B.C. Writing

filling Station is soliciting submissions of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and visual art for a special issue on Northern B.C. Writing to be guest-edited by Jason Wiens. The magazine also encourages reviews of recent publications by Northern B.C. writers. The filling Station collective will vet and select submissions ... Read More

Literary Recap June 13-20, 2012

6 years, 7 months

Teach.com has created a flowchart to help young adults choose their summer reading. Looking for contemporary writing? Political allegory? Time travel? Follow the arrows to find your perfect read. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/summer-reading-flowchart_b52769 The winners of the 2012 Alberta Literary Awards were announced this week. Recipients include ... Read More

Contest (Schmontest?)

6 years, 7 months

I’ve been going through old issues of the magazine as part of the process of creating a digital archive, and I came across some contests and their winners. In the premier issue of fS, Kathryn Peet won runner-up for this poem: It Doesn’t Taste Like Mint When I ... Read More

Oddball Writing Exercises for Atypical Writers

6 years, 7 months

The Internet is home to almost as many writing tips as cornbread recipes, and like recipes, writing prompts range from typical to deranged. The wackier ones involve carrot divination, nylon foot-webbing and neck-smelling sessions with other writers. Common ones involve photo prompts, memory joggers, and the sentence “It all started ... Read More

Weekly Literary Recap – June 5 – 12, 2012

6 years, 7 months

A creative writing student has created a Write or Die app. Using noises and pop-ups, the program punishes writers when it detects distraction or lack of productivity. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/write-or-die_b8079 The Department of Canadian Heritage failed to renew funding for the Literary Press Group, a not-for-profit association ... Read More

Quality vs. Quantity

6 years, 7 months

At our recent filling Station collective meeting, we discussed writing as a daily habit. For many, writing is not just a hobby but a discipline, a part of the creative hygiene routine. To work at something daily, you need to set realistic goals, but with something as fluid as writing ... Read More

Weekly Literary Roundup: May 28 - June 5, 2012

6 years, 7 months

The New Yorker is tweeting Jennifer Egan’s new short story in a series of ten installments. What do you think of this idea? Would you publish a story this way? http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2012/05/24/jennifer-egan-short-story-to-be-serialized-on-twitter/ Queen’s has created a university-wide book club ... Read More

Anecdotal Poetry?

6 years, 7 months

I recently got to know seven people very well, though I’ve yet to meet any of them in the flesh. You see, we took an online poetry class together. We spoke to each other (in poetry) about death, addiction, parenting, sex, jealousy, incompetence, and everything else. These people shared ... Read More

Life is About Losing Everything [Review]

6 years, 8 months

Life is About Losing Everything by Lynn Crosbie Published: May 2012 House of Anansi Press We hold each other in the pool of blood and gore and I say, No one has ever understood me. No one has ever loved me, baby, not ever. What a way to enter Lynn ... Read More

kooser

6 years, 8 months

Things have been a bit wobbly around here. Despite some radical shakeups and unplanned delays, we’re proud to still be bringing you the cutting-edge writing and visual art you deserve, not to mention interviews, events, and reviews. Who doesn’t love the Avant-garde? What kind of person doesn’t ... Read More

fS Reading Series Makes The National

6 years, 10 months

Watch Weyman Chan read at filling Station's January Flywheel reading in a CBC segment entitled Bookstore survivors which features local literary locale Pages on Kensington. Read More

2012 News

Call for Submissions: Special Issue of filling Station magazine on Northern B.C. Writing